


we rebuild from the ground up

by teatin



Category: DC Extended Universe, Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Character Death, References to Canon, WW84 Speculative Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 11:44:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18603862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teatin/pseuds/teatin
Summary: “So, give me your hand, like so,” she begins, and he can’t help but laugh a little. “And you’re going to put your arm around me, like so. And then…”“And then we just sway,” he finishes, and the smile that spreads on her face warms his heart and sends butterflies churning in his stomach in the best possible way.(God, he wants to spend eternity making her smile like that.)“I’m glad that people still do this,” he says.Diana pulls away to look at him. She smiles. “Me, too.”Or: In 1984, Steve and Diana re-learn their way around each other the only way they know how: through a dance.





	we rebuild from the ground up

**Author's Note:**

> I got this scene stuck in my head and couldn't get it out, so I just had to write a piece about it. Mild spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984. Based on set pics and the few tidbits of information that we've gotten about the movie, but nothing too spoilery.

The grand ballroom is packed. Guests mingle with one another, champagne flutes in their perfectly manicured hands, their elaborate jewelry sparkling in the light with every slight movement. At the center of the room, dancers twirl to the music, their intricate dresses flowing with every step, lightly brushing against the marble floor as they pass each other in a perfect rhythm.

It almost feels suffocating.

And yet he knows, not too long ago, or perhaps a lifetime ago (time tends to be muddy when one finds themselves coming back from the dead), he would have known exactly what to do at an event not unlike this one. How to blend in, pretend to be someone he’s not, charm his way through the most dangerous men in the world. After all, people in his profession rarely last very long if they can’t quickly figure out how the game works. He remembers the ones they lost, the ones whose steadfast refusal to divulge his whereabouts allowed him to continue his undercover work, to rise among their ranks to become a decorated German ace pilot.

(Which led him to meeting _her_. And the rest, as they say, is history.)

But that was a different time, a different world, one with rules he knew well. This is uncharted territory, and he’s not entirely sure he is the same man he used to be, either.

(He’s not sure about a lot of things these days. Except for _her_.)

As if sensing his discomfort, Diana excuses herself from a nearby conversation with one of the countless museum curators that Steve’s only been perfunctorily introduced to, and makes her way towards him. Immediately he feels all the pressure inside him fizzle out and has to physically restrain himself from visibly sighing from relief. Though he doesn’t think he has to; all it would take Diana is one look at him and she’d know his deepest thoughts, and she would never judge him for any of it.

They stand in silence for a while, just people-watching together, quietly enjoying each other’s company. She’s trying to give him some space, Steve soon realizes. A part of him wishes she didn’t have to, but he respects it nevertheless. Diana has always been thoughtful. It’s part of the reason why he loves her.

“I believe you owe me a dance, Steve Trevor,” Diana finally speaks up once he feels his anxiety begin to melt away. When he glances to his side, she’s smiling at him, a playful twinkle in her eyes.

Steve can’t help but smile back. “Do I now?”

“Yes, you do,” she responds, not missing a beat. “It is among your list of duties as my date tonight. You agreed to it, didn’t you? And a deal is a promise – ”

“ – And a promise is unbreakable,” he finishes. For just a split second, he feels like no time has passed at all. Like they’re back in the trenches of the Great War, her eyes burning with idealistic determination, igniting in him something he’d thought lost so many years before.

And then the feeling is gone, and Steve finds himself back in the crowded ballroom, Diana’s expectant gaze still on him, waiting for his answer.

He clears his throat, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I… I don’t think I can.”

To his surprise, Diana doesn’t look disappointed, on the contrary, her grin widens. “That’s not what you said that night.”

“That was a different time,” he argues. “And a long time ago. For you, anyway. Besides, shouldn’t we be laying low and not attract attention to ourselves?”

She pointedly cocks her head in the direction of the dance floor. “When you’re the only two people in the room not dancing, you’re doing the exact opposite of that.”

It’s hard to argue with that, he concedes as he quickly scans their surroundings and finds that indeed, her assessment isn’t wrong.

She holds out her hand. “Well? Shall we?”

He searches for another excuse, but comes up empty-handed. He heaves an exaggerated sigh, admitting defeat. “Okay.”

He takes her hand and lets her lead him onto the dance floor. As soon as they’re among other couples, he feels his anxiety quickly returning, but Diana’s gentle but firm grip on his hand steadies him again.

(She’s always had that effect on him. His Angel.)

“So, give me your hand, like so,” she begins, and he can’t help but laugh a little. “And you’re going to put your arm around me, like so. And then…”

“And then we just sway,” he finishes, and the smile that spreads on her face warms his heart and sends butterflies churning in his stomach in the best possible way.

(God, he wants to spend eternity making her smile like that.)

“You remember,” he whispers, and Diana’s smile turns a bit sad. “After all these years.”

“Sometimes, I still feel like it was all a dream,” she says. “Like I’m going to wake up and find myself back in my bedchamber on Themyscira, and the whole thing was just a vivid dream I had, borne of my desire to see what lies beyond the horizon of my homeland.”

She swallows hard, and he lets her have a moment to compose herself, to collect her thoughts and choose her words.

“But I knew you were real,” she continues, gazing up at him. “There was no way I could’ve dreamt you up, there was no way.”

The way she says it, Steve wonders if these are practiced words, reassurances she repeated to herself in the months immediately following his death, over and over until it became a mantra. He hasn’t given it much thought until now, but seeing him alive one moment and having him just vanish without a trace, not even a body to mourn, not even a grave to visit, must’ve been difficult for Diana. His heart constricts a little, and guilt overwhelms all his senses. He had no idea that Diana would still be so affected, so many years later. All he wanted back then was for her to continue living well and fighting the good fight. He never expected –

“I have never forgotten you,” Diana confesses, her voice barely above a whisper. “Never.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Diana shakes her head. “It wasn’t your fault. I know you wanted to do the right thing. It might even have been the only thing to do in that moment. I would’ve done the same thing.”

“I don’t regret it,” he admits in a voice of someone who’s just confessed their deepest, darkest secret. “My life to save millions? I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. My only regret is hurting you.”

She smiles at him, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I know you don’t. If you truly think it was the right way, the only way, then my pain is a small price to pay for the millions of lives that were saved that night.”

They dance wordlessly for a few more minutes, simply relishing in the warmth of one another. Diana pulls him closer to her and rests her head against his shoulder. She sighs contentedly. He buries his face in her hair, inhaling her scent.

“I know your mind has been wandering all night,” she says, not as an accusation, but a simple observation. “I know all of this must seem strange and confusing to you, but I promise we’ll figure it out together. And I don’t want you to think there’s anything that you have to hide from me.”

“I was just thinking about the past,” he says, then grimaces. “I’m trying not to.”

“Why?” she asks, curiosity clearly lacing her voice. “We can’t change the past, but it’s still a part of us. It’s not wrong to look back on it.”

He looks away, trying to find the right words. “It’s all I know, what’s in the past. You’ve probably moved on, you have a new life now. I didn’t want to keep burdening you with things that happened so long ago.”

Diana remains silent, so he takes it as his cue to continue. “But I don’t know how to move forward, either. You’re right, this is all so strange and alien to me...” he heaves a frustrated sigh. “So I guess I’m stuck. I can’t go back, but I don’t know how to go on, either.”

She looks at him, her gaze sympathetic. “We’ll figure it out together, one step at a time. Deal?”

He searches her face for a moment, trying to find any sign that she’s only saying it to comfort him, but finds nothing of the sort. Diana has never lied to anyone, he knows this.

“Deal.”

“Besides,” she adds, “Remembering the past isn’t always bad. This feels pretty nice.”

Steve laughs. _Diana’s right_ , he muses to himself. And she’s been trying to tell him that all night, with the dance and the teasing and the memories. She didn’t need him to tell her what was bothering him, she knew. She just didn’t want to push him, and wanted him to come to that realization himself.

(It’s not the first time he wonders how on Earth he ever got to be so lucky, to be loved by _her_.)

“I’m glad that people still do this,” he says.

Diana pulls away to look at him. She smiles. “Me, too.”

They continue their dance well into the night, even as the other couples have tired of theirs. They ignore the curious looks from the other guests, and the fruitless attempts from the museum curator to get Diana’s attention to continue their previous conversation. It doesn’t matter. In this moment, they are the only two people in the world.

In this moment, they have each other, and that is enough.

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you liked this piece, please feel free to leave a comment!


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